Windows 10 Settings menu: The Time & language tab

The Time & language tab in the new Windows 10 Settings menu is pretty straightforward. This is where you go to change the time and date, add languages (read: keyboards) to your PC, and adjust the speech settings. Windows 8 users will recognize this section from the Windows 8 PC settings menu (Charms bar > Settings > Change PC settings > Time and language).

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There are several ways to get to the Time & language tab in the new Windows 10 Settings menu. The easiest way is to simply open up the Settings menu and click Time & language. However, you can also access this tab by clicking the clock on your taskbar and clicking Date and time settings, or by clicking the language icon on your taskbar and clicking Language preferences (though this will take you directly to the Region & language section).

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The Time & language tab has three sections: Date & time, Region & language and Speech. In Date & time, you’ll see the current date and time displayed at the top of the screen. Underneath this, you’ll see an option to Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically — if you turn these toggles on, Windows will automatically set the date and time based on your device’s current location. If these toggles are not turned on, you can change the date, time and time zone manually.

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At the bottom of the Date & time screen, you’ll see examples of the different date and time formats your computer currently uses, along with the option to Change date and time formats.

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In the Region & language section, you can choose your country or region from a drop-down menu. Your region determines which apps you can use from the Windows Store (not all apps are available in all regions), and will also help app makers deliver local content (e.g., for a weather app). Your region does not affect the language your computer is in.

Under Languages, you can add languages and keyboards. To do this, click Add a language and choose the language you want to add. This will add that language’s keyboard to your PC; you can switch between keyboards by clicking the language taskbar button (will initially appear as ENG if you’re using English, but will change depending on what keyboard you’re currently using) and pick the keyboard you want to use, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Windows key + Space to toggle between added keyboards.

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You can change your PC’s display language to any supported language that has been added to your computer. To do this, click the language you want to use and click Options. Under Language options, click Download to download the basic language pack (not all language packs are available). Once the language pack has downloaded, go back to Region & language, click the language and click Set as default.

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You’ll see a notification appear under the language that reads Will be display language after next sign-in. Sign out of Windows and sign back in, and your new display language will be set.

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The last section in the Time & language tab is the Speech section. Here, you can tweak some Cortana settings, such as picking what language you use to interact with your device. You can also choose the default voice for apps: Microsoft David Mobile (male), Microsoft Mark Mobile (male), or Microsoft Zira Mobile (female). (Changing this option will not change Cortana’s voice.) For additional speech settings, such as setting up Cortana with Microsoft’s “Getting to know you” walkthrough, you’ll need to go to the Privacy tab.

Editors’ note: This How To post was originally published on March 1, 2015, and was updated on May 25, 2016, to reflect new information regarding Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14342.